Verizon in Talks With Yahoo to Re-Negotiate Lower Price

Verizon is working out a new deal with Yahoo that will see the $4.8-billion purchase price for the company’s Internet division slashed by roughly $250 million.

People “familiar with the matter” told Bloomberg that Verizon and Altaba, the name Yahoo will assume once the sale goes through, will share any ongoing legal responsibilities connected to the two recently revealed breaches of Yahoo’s systems that, in total, affected more than 1.5 billion accounts.

Yahoo and Verizon struck their $4.83-billion all-cash deal last July and the transaction was to be finalized in the first quarter of 2017. At that time, Yahoo was to be integrated with AOL under Marni Walden, EVP and president of the product innovation and new businesses organization at Verizon.

Verizon general counsel Craig Silliman had indicated at a press conference the breach of 500 million user accounts disclosed last September followed by the December revelation during which Yahoo admitted to a second hack, this time affecting one billion accounts, could impact the sale.

Since then, it has been rumored Verizon would ask for a discount, although many estimated the amount to be quite a bit higher: a $1-billion discount off the purchase price.

Gabelli & Co. analyst Brett Harriss told Bloomberg there is “more certainty around there actually being a sale” than there used to be.

“It looks like they’re going to get a price cut, but it’s not dramatic,” he added.